Labor Department says employee getting severed pig head was retaliation by Tosh Pork farm

Todd A. Price, Nashville Tennessean
Updated ·2 min read
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It started innocently enough.

A worker at Tosh Pork, a large farm two hours west of Nashville in Henry, Tennessee, asked the company about their pay.

But things escalated quickly.

The company threatened to fire the worker, according to a Department of Labor investigation. When the worker returned to their station, they found a severed pig head.

Hugo Sanchez removes one of the bay pigs from its pin to be vaccinated at a wean to finish pig farm raised for Tosh Farms in Henry, Tenn., Wednesday, April 11, 2018.
Hugo Sanchez removes one of the bay pigs from its pin to be vaccinated at a wean to finish pig farm raised for Tosh Farms in Henry, Tenn., Wednesday, April 11, 2018.

Another worker who asked about their pay, according to the Labor Department, was promptly assigned to clean bathrooms and pick up pig waste, tasks that were not part of their job description. That worker was also allegedly pressured to sign a document forbidding them from talking about pay with coworkers. However, worker conversations about pay is a protected activity according to the national Fair Labor Standards Act.

Now, the U.S. Labor Department is seeking a court order to protect the workers against retaliation by the pork producer.

"Tosh Pork's appalling actions and clear attempts to intimidate and retaliate against its employees will not be tolerated," said a statement from the Labor Department's Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard.

Tosh Pork denied the allegations of the Labor Department.

"It is important to Tosh Pork that our employees are treated with dignity and respect and that our animals receive proper care," said a representative of the company in an email.

The Labor Department filed a complaint on Feb. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee seeking to stop Tosh Pork from any further retaliation against its employees.

During its investigation, the Labor Department also found that Tosh Pork failed to provide housing for its employee on H-2A guest worker visa. The company was ordered to pay the workers nearly $40,000 in back pay and $36,731 in fines.

Tosh Pork produces one million hogs a year and, with its affiliated company Tosh Farms, owns 11,000 acres of farmland, according to the company's website. The company's pork has been sold to JBS, Kroger and Costco.

In 2018, nonprofit animal-rights organization Mercy for Animals released video footage depicting animal abuse by workers in Franklin, Kentucky.

Todd A. Price is a regional reporter in the South for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached taprice@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tosh Pork charged with retaliation in labor violation, pay dispute